How to Make Money On Your Blog

Blog can be a great way to bring in some extra money. You may think you're blog isn't big enough, or well known enough, but remember, they all started somewhere. Here are some great tips for making money with your own blog.

Sign up with Media Companies
Sign up for networks that pay for sponsored posts, and APPLY, APPLY, APPLY. Once you sign up for these networks, then start applying for campaigns. You may sign up for a lot and get passed over quite a bit, but the more you apply, the more chances you have at being accepted. Some great options are Pollinate Media, Clever Girls Collective and SocialSpark.

Social Media
This is simple. If you have a blog, you most likely have various social media accounts. Utilize these accounts! Tell your friends about your blog, share your posts and encourage interaction with your readers. You can't just expect people to stumble on to your blog. You have to tell them about it. The more traffic you have at your blog, the more money you can potentially make. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram are all excellent places to start!

Ad Networks
All ad networks work virtually the same way, you sign up for them, and then place the ads on your sidebar. You then get paid per click, or per impression.

There are tons of ad networks out there: Google, Blog Her, Food Buzz, Rivet, Federated Media, Glam Network, Izea media, and many more. The pay ranges from .50 to $15 per 1,000 page views. If your blog generates 50,000 page views a month and you were getting paid $2 CPM, you would get $100 for that one ad. Some ad networks are based on CTR (Click through rate). This calculated on how many clicks the ads gets. It’s important to know which method your ad networks uses, CPM rates are typically preferred because you know you’re guaranteed a set amount of dollars per 1,000 page views.

Some bloggers even choose to sell ad space to small businesses at a discounted rate.

There are hundreds of different ad networks out there: Google, Blog Her, Food Buzz, Rivet, Federated Media, Glam Network, Izea media,Advertising to name a few. You can make anywhere from .50 to $15 per 1,000 page views. So say your blog generates 50,000 page views a month and you were getting paid $2 CPM, you would get $100 for that one ad. However some ad networks are based on CTR (Click through rate), which is calculated on how many clicks the ads gets. It’s important to know which method your ad networks uses. I like CPM rates better because you know you’re guaranteed an x amount of dollars per 1,000 page views.

Affiliate/Associate Marketing
Big and small companies can have affiliate programs. These programs essentially pay you a percentage for customers that you send their way. Many companies offer these programs, so all it takes is a little research to find the right ones for you. Start by making a list of your favorite products and services that you want to share with others. See if any of these companies offer an affiliate program, if so, check them out and if they seem like a good fit you then sign up. Now just tell others how great you think the company/product/service is and you should be set. The key is to only choose products that you like and want to share. If your interested and love it, then your passion will show through in your words.

Affiliate/associate hybrids have a slightly different animal than product-specific affiliate programs. These hybrid programs will give you a small commission of any product the person buys if they click on a link from your blog. As an example, if you clicked on one of my Amazon.com affiliate links for a sewing machine, but got to the site and bought a spiral vegetable slicer, I’d still make a commission. Or, if you bought the sewing machine and also bought an iron, I’d make commission on both items.

Example programs:*

• Amazon Associates Program
• Sears Affiliate Program
• Walmart Affiliate Program
• Best Buy Affiliate Program
• Target Affiliate Program
• Barnes & Noble Affiliate Program

*The payment structure for each of these is different, so be sure to do your research before you get started.

YouTube
I know you might be thinking.... "there's no way I'm getting on camera" .. and that's fine. YouTube might not be right for you, but if your blog has any kind of DIY topic, be it crafty, household, cooking, then DIY videos could help bring your blog the traffic it needs. Show your readers how to make your awesome chocolate chip cookies, or finish that remodeling project. Not to mention you can make money off of YouTube itself. To read more about that check out this article.

Sell Yourself
Well... sell your products and services. Are you crafty or do you love junk hunting? You can use your blog to advertise and sell your products. Some people choose to sell directly form their blog, Facebook or Instagram, while others opt for a selling venue like eBay or Etsy.